Kate Slavin - Ironclad Co.
Kate is an internationally experienced and highly awarded designer/art director. After working on big global brands for some of the advertising industry's top names overseas, she moved back to NZ and shifted her focus to running her own business. She’s now living in Grey Lynn with her husband, two young boys and dog.
In 2019, Kate and her husband Levi Slavin founded Ironclad Co. with their business partner Joe Carter. Their aim was to create a sustainable product that brings back the craft and techniques used to make the most beautiful cast iron antiques still in use today. Ironclad enabled Kate to explore product design in a new way and work with hand selected craftspeople to create the Ironclad range of products.
1. Who taught you to cook, and what’s the first thing you learned to cook?
My parents. We cooked a lot at home, with a library of cookbooks and love of good food. They had heaps of dinner parties when I was growing up.
My earliest memory is making “Gooey-gucky” which was me copying my mum baking - and just putting any amount of flour and liquid into the mixing bowl to make a batter, and a big inedible mess! I was always allowed in there, being part of the action in the heart of the kitchen. The first real thing I was taught was an omelette – the sides have to be pushed in with a spatula as you cook, and the runny egg tilted out, so the edges are fluffy. Then you grate a little bit of cheese onto the middle before folding it in half.
2. What’s one of your most treasured food memories?
Oh that’s a hard one. One of my most treasured early memories is making Afghan Cookies with my best friend Julie and her aunty. We used to make double the mixture so we could eat half of it raw before baking them.
3. Best and worst things your Mum or Dad cooked?
Worst: Mum – meatloaf. Not my thing, gross!
Dad: I can’t remember – he often cooked using recipes so things didn’t go wrong so much. And I don’t have a memory of not liking something he made.
Best/signature dishes: Mum – sticky toffee puddings. Little individual ones – with vanilla ice-cream. Dad - his twice baked blue cheese souffle.
4. Who would your dream dinner guest/s be (alive, or not) and what would you cook for them?
We were talking about this just the other day! How many do I get? I’d have Salvador Dali, Dylan Moran, Barbara Kruger, Freida Kahlo, Bob Marley, Alicia Keys, Francis Bacon, Tracey Chapman. My husband Levi, plus my friends Courtney and Craig. I’d have to sit them in a particular order so everyone got along well. I would serve champagne and oysters to start. A big seafood paella to share, with homemade fluffy focaccia bread on the side. And rocket, parmesan and pear salad - with that yummy olive oil and balsamic style of dressing. Bottles of very cold and light chardonnay. Icy, sparkly water with lemon and cucumber. Then chocolate mousse for dessert, with fresh strawberries, and espresso martinis.
5. What are the ingredients or flavours you could not live without?
Oh no – all of them! I love the umami flavour of marmite with avocado on Vogels toast. I missed that when I was living overseas and had to get my family to post the bread and marmite to me.
6. What’s the one ingredient you always splurge on, no matter the cost?
A good piece of salmon or steak; we don’t eat meat often, so when we do, I like it to be the best quality.
7. Name your best tip, trick or hack for using an Ironclad pan?
Use it for everything; baking, roasting, as well as on the stove top. And use it often, because the more you use it the better it gets. Best first dish (to cook in one) is caramelised onions as this kickstarts the non-stick patina really well. Start with plenty of butter and oil and chopped onions (about 4 for a 28cm Legacy size pan), with salt to taste. Fry on the stovetop, then bake in a 140˚C oven for about an hour, stirring every 15 mins. Add a little brown sugar and balsamic vinegar near the end. It’s a great condiment to have in the fridge; use as you would a chutney or relish, or store in the freezer for a few months. Once you’ve cooked it, just wipe out the pan with a paper towel and it’s ready to go again.
8. What do you cook when you just can’t be bothered or when time is short?
Breakfast – anytime of day – scrambled eggs on toast, fresh parsley, salt and pepper. The trick is timing. Get the toast ready first, and get the Lil Legacy super-hot with sizzling butter, fork-fluff 2 eggs (nothing else), and then it only takes seconds to cook.
9. What’s currently on your playlist when you’re in the kitchen?
Leisure. The XX or Nightmares on Wax.
10. What’s your ultimate food treat?
So many hard questions. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, warm from the oven.
11. What’s the most memorable thing you’ve ever eaten, and where did you eat it?
Crack pie from Milk Bar in Brooklyn, New York. And their cornflake soft serve.
12. Name a favourite destination for food/dining?
Locally it would have to be Homeland or Lillian's in Grey Lynn – yummy food, lovely dining experiences. Worldwide – Italy.
13. What's the dish you'd travel across the world for?
Authentic Southern Thai food made by locals for locals… the curries that make your lips inflate and your tongue go nuts in a way that is hard to replicate. It’s not just spice, it’s the unique flavours. I was lucky enough to experience this when I stayed there for a few months with a small local community in my early 20’s and I still remember the physical high from that food.
14. Where's one food destination you're yet to visit?
I’d love to go to Greece.
15. As a founder of Ironclad Co, what is one of your most memorable moments?
I think it has to be the day we got about 140 Legacy Pan orders all at once, which was mind-blowing considering we’d only really sold a small amount to our extended friends and family up to that point. It was shortly after the country went into lockdown and the NZ Made Facebook group posted about us. We were still packing the pans ourselves out of the garage and the big stack took over our living room, waiting for the courier to collect. It was – and is – amazing to think that a product I have designed is out there in so many kitchens. All made possible through love, sweat and tears from such a small crew of people – Levi, Joe, Felicity and I. Now we have a few extra awesome people on board to help us grow.
Ironclad Smoked Crayfish, Prawn and Mussel Paella on the BBQ
Serves: 6-8
What better way to spend moments hanging out with your BBQ and a bunch of delicious ingredients, and here’s some Ironclad inspiration. A super-simple but very special occasion dish to demonstrate your love! I cooked this Paella in the Weber Kettle over wood, but it will work just as well over charcoal or gas. And if you, or the weather, are not in the BBQ mood then you can always cook it inside on your cook top. *To cover the pan if cooking inside, use a large pot lid.
Traditionally, paella is made in a wide thin bottomed pan but cast iron works just as well. It’s all about creating the perfect socarrat. (That delicious crunchy layer of rice that forms in the bottom of the pan).
And the trick? Once the rice is in the pan, no matter the urge, you must not stir! It’s all about the right amount of heat hitting the bottom of the pan at the right time. Too little and the crust won’t form. Too much and it will burn.
I build up a hot fire to sear the tomatoes and seafood on first. Imparting that BBQ flavour briefly into these ingredients adds a lovely dimension to the dish. I then sauté all the veggies in the pan on that same heat source, adding a little more wood to the fire just before I add the rice and the stock.
If you are using charcoals, heat a full chimney starter, and scatter them in the bottom of the BBQ interspersed with an equal number of unheated charcoals. They will flare up over the cook time to provide just the right amount of heat.
I’m crazy about smoked food so I pop a tinfoil package of mānuka woodchips next to the pan once the lid goes on. The result is a pile of smokey, BBQ’d seafood atop the most delicious moist saffron yellow rice. Beyond delicious.
Apart from the crayfish tails, you should be able to source all the ingredients from your supermarket. And Moana New Zealand will deliver to your door ocean fresh crayfish tails. They are a succulent and super fresh treat and just a click away at moana.co.nz.
If you want to make less, use the same amount of rice and vegetables and half the seafood content.
First over the flame
5 medium tomatoes
500g large prawns
2 crayfish tails, cut lengthwise in half, shell on
1 tbsp smoked paprika flakes, or 1 tsp smoked paprika
Zest of 2 limes
Salt and pepper to taste
A medium glug of olive oil (3 tbsp)
200g smoked mussels halved
1 large lime cut into segments
Then in the ironclad pan
1 free-range chorizo crumbled
3 bay leaves
Large glug olive oil (about quarter of a cup)
½ bulb garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium white onion finely diced
1 fennel bulb finely sliced
1 red pepper cut into large chunks
1 tbsp smoked paprika flakes, or 1 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup dry white wine
Large pinch saffron
1 ½ cups arborio or short grain rice **don’t use medium or long grain
2 ½ cups hot chicken or fish stock
Salt and pepper to taste
First up get those tomatoes grilling on the BBQ. Rub the tomatoes with olive oil, drop them onto the hot flames and turn with tongs until blackened. This will be quick! Don’t over cook them. Transfer tomatoes to a covered bowl to let them sweat. When cool, remove the skins, chop finely and set aside.
Toss the prawns and crayfish in olive oil, smoked paprika, lime zest, salt and pepper and, in batches, very quickly sear over a very hot flame. You don’t want to fully cook the seafood, more flavour it with fire and heat. Toss the crayfish and prawns, smoked mussels and lime segments in a bowl and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in your Ironclad Pan over a medium flame. Add crumbled chorizo and bay leaves and sauté for a minute or two to release the flavour. Now add the rest of the olive oil, garlic, onion, paprika, fennel and red pepper and sauté until sizzling and soft but not brown. Add white wine, chopped tomatoes and saffron and simmer for 5 minutes.
While that is reducing, prepare your smoking package. Place half a cup of mānuka chips onto a piece of tinfoil, crumple up the edges to hold them in, pop into a heated pan with a lid and heat until smoke starts to curl. When they start to smoke they are ready to be transferred to the BBQ.
Sprinkle the rice evenly over the bubbling mix. Pour over the hot broth. Check for seasoning, adding more salt if you like it salty. Do not stir!
Tuck your smoking chips onto the BBQ next to the pan, pop on the BBQ lid and cook over a for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid of the BBQ, take pan out and place lid back on to keep the smoke in. Add a few more mānuka chips if the package has stopped smoking.
If you need to add a little more stock, do that now and then swiftly nestle the crayfish, prawns, mussels and limes into the rice and return to the BBQ, lid on, for 5 minutes.
Serve sizzling to the table. Gather your family around so they can ooh and ahh at your incredible creation! Then cover with a tea towel or pot lid and let sit for 5 minutes as you fill drinks and give thanks to being safe in lockdown.
And now, devour!
